Silver halide color photographic materials are imagewise exposed, and development-processed with an aromatic primary amine color developing agent, with the resulting oxidation product of the developing agent in turn reacting with dye image-forming couplers (hereinafter referred to as couplers) to form dye images. In color photographic light-sensitive materials, a combination of a yellow couplers, a cyan coupler, and a magenta coupler is employed.
In order to obtain good color reproducibility, it has so far been attempted to develop couplers which can give cyan, magenta or yellow dyes with less side absorption and, at the same time, to develop highly active couplers which permit the color development to be completed within a short period of time. Further, novel additives for inducing the excellent properties of such couplers have also been developed. However, these novel properties cause a reduction in preservability of resulting color photographic pictures together with the components of the processing solution remaining in the light-sensitive materials.
Of the components of processing solutions which remain in light-sensitive materials, developing agents of aromatic primary amine compounds and compounds derived therefrom are known to spoil the fastness of resulting images when influenced by light, heat, high humidity, oxygen or the like or to change to colored substances as a result of self-coupling or reaction with co-existing components to produce so-called "stain" upon storage for a long period of time.
This color stain is most likely to take place when an aromatic amine developing agent, which remains in a light-sensitive material, and a coupler coexist, with different-color stains being formed depending upon the kind of coexisting couplers.
On the other hand, prevention of a certain stain called Y-stain has heretofore been extensively studied as one approach for preventing deterioration of color image. The term "Y-stain" as used herein means a yellow stain formed in non-colored areas (so-called white background) by light or heat, the Y-stain caused chiefly because of coloration of a decomposed product produced by decomposition of coupler. Thus, Y-stain is different from the color stain mentioned in the present invention with regard the respective mechanism of stain formation. Further, the so-called Y-stain-preventing agents, which are currently known, such as hydroquinones, hindered phenols, tocopherols, chromans, coumarans, and compounds prepared by etherifying the phenolic hydroxy groups of these compounds (for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,935,016, 3,930,866, 3,700,455, 3,764,337, 3,432,300, 3,573,050, 4,254,216, British Patents 2,066,975, 1,326,889, and JP-B-51-30462 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication"), are insufficient for preventing the particular stain with which this invention is concerned. The particular color stain is different from the above Y-stain.
It has recently been proposed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,085 and 4,483,918, JP-A 59-218445 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") and JP-A-59-229557, that certain amine compounds are effective for preventing stain caused during color development. These conventional compounds, however, are still not sufficient to attain the necessary improvement in preservability.
As a result of various investigations, the inventors have found those compounds which prevent color-stain by chemically bonding with i) an aromatic amine developing agent remaining after color development or ii) the oxidation product of said aromatic amine developing agent.
However, with the rapid progress of the art, desire for prevention of color stain (even when stored for a longer time than before) becomes strong in view of the recording feature of color photographic pictures.
In addition, even the generation of even a slight amount of color-stain is visually conspicuous with some kind of staining colors, and color turbidity, which is a fatal defect for color photographic pictures, takes place even in image areas.